Hari Singh Nalwa
By the age of fifteen, fully armed he wrestled a tiger to its death. He was extremely good-looking and his aura sparkled. So formidable was the reputation he had gained since childhood that the mere mention of his name was enough to make the enemy forsake food and water. By the age of sixteen, said Sitarama, Sardar Hari Singh had gained a great reputation. Killing a tiger in a one-to-one combat without the use of firearms was universally seen as the ultimate feat of valour. How Hari Singh acquired the cognomen ‘Nalwa’ was not disputed, but why the appellation ‘Nalwa’ was given to him for killing a tiger remained inadequately answered. Sher was the title bestowed on those who accomplished such a feat (Latif, 1891: 127). The word ‘Nalwa’ (variously spelt in the literature as ‘Nalooa’, ‘Nalua’’, ‘Nulowa’, Nalwah’, ‘Nulwuh’, Neelwa’, ‘Nellowah’, ‘Narua’ killer.’, etc.) does not mean tiger-killer.
The association of the word ‘Nalwa’ with ‘Nal’ has been recognised. Raja Nal of Nishada finds mention in the great Indian epic, Mahabharat (BCE3139). Nal was a sprightly youth, master of equestrian art, a charioteer par excellence and a good hunter — the very embodiment of valour, vigour and vivacity. The story of this Raja as narrated in the epic, focuses on the love Raja Nal bore for his queen Damayanti. The love story was very popular and had travelled far beyond the boundaries of the Indian subcontinent into Iran, where it had been translated into Persian. There were many oral variants of this story. The two versions mentioned in Richard Temple’s ‘Legends of the Punjab’, however, provide no clue to the association between ‘Nal’ and ’tiger’. A story linking ’tiger’ with ‘Nal’ finds mention in Dhola, an oral epic widely sung and performed right into the late-twentieth century in Jat villages of the Braj region of western Uttar Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan (Wadley,2004: 1). The Jats are an ethnic group settled in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. Dhola tells the story of the childhood of Nal and relates an episode where the young Nal saves his father from the jaws of a lion when hunting in the forbidden forest of Shantiban (Wadley, 2004: 8). Ranjit Singh would no doubt have been familiar with Dhola, having heard it on many a long night during the monsoons - a period of martial inactivity in the Punjab. Dhola was clearly popular in the Punjab, for a later-day version includes an episode that refers to Hari Singh’s senior compatriot ‘Phula Singh Punjabi’
Young Hari Singh was separated from his companions in the jungle and was found just as he destroyed a tiger with his sword (Vigne, 1842: (2) 73). According to folklore, Ranjit Singh was with him when the event occurred.
One prominent example of Hari Singh Nalwa’s devotion towards Santan Dharma was the construction of Haveli Hari Singh Nalwa in front of Katas Raj Temple in the Punjab region.